Volume again heavy and prices firm

Press, 10 February 1989, Page 19

Volume again heavy and prices firm

Volumes were again exceptionally heavy on the New Zealand sharemarket yesterday, as 36.8 million shares changed hands for $59.0 million. Prices remained firm, with Barclay’s index of industrial shares up 3.49 points to 2079.50. The N.Z.S.E. gross index rose proportionately more, 2.97 points to 753.88. Once again, rises outnumbered falls two to one. Some scattered profittaking slowed down the market’s advance, but the undertone was fully firm. Brierley Investments continued to be heavily bought, and at 19.4 million shares accounted for more than half the turnover. It rose 2c to 163 c. The company has said very little about the heavy trading in its shares, but Brierley’s chief executive, Paul Collins, said yesterday that the company believed the selling was by “weak holders” of the shares. He said that 3 or 4 per cent of the company’s capital had changed

hands in heavy trading during the last four weeks. An Australian investor had picked up about 2% and had since resold them, making a "tidy profit,” Mr Collins said. “They have been resold to New Zealand and United Kingdom interests, and we are very positive about them being in permanent hands,” he told the New Zealand Press Association. Mr Collins would not identify the Australian. Finance stocks reversed Wednesday’s losses, with BNZ up 1c to 134, BNZ Finance 5c to 170, the ANZ group 3c to 765, and Countrywide also 3c, to 210. Mr Roger Howell, of the Christchurch office of Jordan Sandman Were, said that it was another good day on the New Zealand stock exchange yesterday as prices remained firm on good volumes. Much attention was focused on Brierley Investments, which traded heavily in the range 165 c to 161 c

and was the feature of the day’s activity. Chase, which has been subject to market rumour in recent weeks improved on moderate to heavy volume, to close at 104 c. Overseas institutional buyers provided the buying power for the market and seem to be placing growing emphasis on New Zealand’s improving economic fundamentals — for example the vastly improved balance-of-pay-ments position which was announced on Wednesday. “Late in the day buyers entered the Government bond market and the yield on benchmark November, 1993, bonds eased from 13.02% to 12.93%. 90 day bank bills were yielding 13.0% at the close, down from 13.4% earlier in the day. This trend is likely to underpin prices on the equity market in the short term, Mr Howell said. Goodman Fielder Wattie, Carter Holt Harvey, Wilson and Horton, and Lion Nathan stood out among the losers.